RNC Minerals Announces Commencement of Drilling on High-Quality Haile Mine-Style Targets on Carolina Gold Properties

TORONTO, April 24, 2018 /CNW/ - RNC Minerals (TSX: RNX) ("RNC") is pleased to announce that Orford Mining Corp. (TSX-V: ORM) (44% owned by RNC) has begun the mobilization of drill rigs to begin drilling at its Carolina Gold Properties in North and South Carolina. Drilling will target high quality geological and geophysical targets consistent with Haile gold deposit style mineralization as reported in Orford's news release dated March 1, 2018. The first phase of drilling will total approximately 1,400 metres and Orford expects to receive assay results beginning in June.

David Christie, President and CEO of Orford, commented, "We look forward to receiving results from the testing of these promising exploration drilling targets on Orford's very prospective properties in the re-emerging Carolina Gold Belt."

At the Landrum-Faulkner property, drilling will target multiple parallel zones of sericitic and silicic alteration extending over the entire length of the grid associated with strong IP anomalies. One of these zones is coincident with a strong 600m-long chargeability and resistivity anomaly and extends under a historical surface grab sample occurrence of 6 g/t Au¹.

At the Jones-Keystone property drilling will target Induced Polarization (IP) anomalies extending over the entire 1,100m length of the grid and associated with possible extensions of historical gold mineralization that includes intersections of 104m grading 1.27g/t Au and 54m grading 1.56 g/t Au³. Additionally, drilling will test several coincident chargeability and resistivity anomalies extending over 600m along strike in the previously undrilled southern portion of the property.

About the Carolina Gold Properties
Orford has entered into an option agreement with Carolina Gold Resources Inc. to earn a 70% interest in both the Jones-Keystone and Landrum-Faulkner Properties located respectively in North Carolina and South Carolina in the southeastern US. The properties are located in the Carolina Gold Belt, home to Oceana Gold's producing Haile Mine (3.7 Moz resource at 1.8 g/t Au²), and the past-producing Ridgeway Mine. 

The Jones-Keystone and Landrum-Faulkner Properties occur at or near the same regional geological contact as the Haile and Ridgeway mines. At Jones-Keystone, mineralization is exposed at surface and historical drilling has yielded multiple drill hole intercepts in the 1 to 3 g/t range including an interval of 1.56 g/t Au over 54m core length including 3.01 g/t Au over 28m core length in historical hole JK10-006, and an interval of 1.27 g/t Au over 104m core length including 3.03 g/t Au over 14m core length in historical hole JK11-017^3,4.

1. Note that grab samples are selective by nature and values reported may not be representative of mineralized zones.
   
   
2. Source: Technical report prepared for OceanaGold Corp. titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Haile Gold Mine, Lancaster County, South Carolina" dated August 9, 2017. This information is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on Orford Mining's properties.
   
   
3. Source: Technical report prepared for Revolution Resources Corporation titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Champion Hills Gold Project" and dated January 17, 2013.
   
   
4. Note drill intervals reported in this press release are down-hole core lengths as true thicknesses cannot be determined with available information.

Qualified Person

The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been approved by Alger St-Jean, Vice President, Exploration, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. 

The information in this release has been prepared by management of Orford based on current work and available historical information. There is no current report prepared in conformance with NI 43-101.  Reference is made to the Management Information Circular dated September 18, 2017 filed on Orford's profile on SEDAR.

About Orford Mining Corporation

Orford Mining is a mineral explorer focused on highly prospective and underexplored areas of Northern Quebec and the Carolina Gold Belt in United States. Orford's principal assets are the Qiqavik and West Raglan projects comprising of a land package totaling over 70,000 hectares in the Cape Smith Belt of Northern Quebec and properties in the U.S. Carolina Gold Belt. The Qiqavik Project hosts several new high-grade gold discoveries along a mineralized trend in excess of 40 km. Orford's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ORM.

About RNC
RNC is a multi-asset mineral resource company with a portfolio of gold and base metal production and exploration properties. RNC's principal assets are the producing Beta Hunt gold and nickel mine in Western Australia, a 50% interest in a nickel joint venture with Waterton that holds the Dumont Nickel Project in the Abitibi region of Quebec, and a 29% stake in the producing Reed Mine in the Flin Flon-Snow Lake region of Manitoba, Canada. RNC also owns a 44% interest in Orford Mining Corp., a mineral explorer focused on highly prospective and underexplored areas of Northern Quebec and the Carolina Gold Belt in United States. RNC has a strong management team and Board with over 100 years of mining experience at Inco and Falconbridge. RNC's common shares trade on the TSX under the symbol RNX. RNC shares also trade on the OTCQX market under the symbol RNKLF.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" including without limitation statements relating to the liquidity and capital resources of RNC, production guidance and the potential of the Beta Hunt and Reed mines as well as the and the potential of the Dumont development project and Orford Mining's Qiqavik, West Raglan, Jones-Keystone Loflin and Landrum-Faulkner exploration properties.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of RNC to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the supply of metals; the results of drilling; inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the properties; environmental liabilities (known and unknown); general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; political instability, terrorism, insurrection or war; or delays in obtaining governmental approvals, projected cash costs, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to RNC's filings with Canadian securities regulators available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Although RNC has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and RNC disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE RNC Minerals